Audra Jennings

Do you have a "to do" list at home that you just don't seem to get around to? Upload photos to CVS or Wal-Mart that I haven't printed for September-January. Yeah, I just don't want to mess with that. I'm ready to get off the computer because I've spent way too much time doing absolutely pointless things on Facebook. Load photos onto digital photo frame I got for Christmas. Well, I'd have to make sure I had all horizontal photos and sort through them. I'm ready to get off the computer. I've spent way too much time messing around on my blog that everyone has already lost interest in. Figure out if it's the new camera that is sucking the life out of the rechargable batteries after just 5 pictures or if it's the battery charger or just the rechargable batteries. The batteries that came with the camera are a battery pack that would have to be charged on an Easy Share dock. Mom and Dad have one, but who remembers to take the camera over there

My originality is busted this week, so I'm sharing 25 more random things about myself. 1. I've been hit in the head with a live chicken. 2. I've had my car paper mache'd. 3. I have read Donny Osmond's auto-biography. 4. I have two friends named Audra on Facebook. 5. I was scorekeeper for my jr. college baseball team. Me in a dugout full of guys (and the baseball players are always the hot ones). Yeah, I enjoyed that. 6. My favorite fruit is pineapple. 7. It doesn't bother me to eat Mexican food 3 times a week. 8. My college degree is in art, yet I never took an art class until I enrolled in college. 9. Drinking Mr. Pibb used to make me flirty. 10. I have 18 first cousins. On Decmember 24, I had only seen 2 in the past year, and all live within a 150 mile radius. 11. I won $8.50 total my first trip to Vegas and lost $5.00 my second trip. Or something like that. 12. I went to the glass bridge over the Grand Canyon the week it opened. Two words: Rip off 13. I have

ECPA Announces Christian Book Expo Dallas 2009 Consumer Book Event to Be Held March 20-22 in Dallas * Visit www.ChristianBookExpo for the scoop on this first-ever show * Check out the social networking links (MySpace, etc) at the CBE website. Bloggers can join group/s and tell friends about CBE. * Blog about the idea of a Christian Book Show for the public, the panel topics and panelists, etc. The first 200 people to publish a CBE blog post of 100+ words will receive complimentary admission to the show! Send the link to your post to be eligible. * Interview Mark Kuyper in advance of the show for a blog post. * NOTE: Press registration is for professional members of the press only. However, coupons for $5 off admission are available at Family Christian Stores in the DFW area. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX—The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is launching the Christian Book Expo Dallas 2009, a new consumer-oriented book event. This event, a first for

Everybody and their cousin, boss, high school sweetheart, best friend and worst enemy has answered "25 Random Things About Me" on Facebook this week. For those of you who missed my Facebook installment, I will present to you my list. 1. I have taken a former Miss America through the Whatburger drive thru. 2. I have taken a Grammy award winner through the Chic-fil-a drive thru. 3. I have met Chuck Norris. 4. I have met Ty Pennington. (At the time Jenny asked who? Then she became jealous when she started watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition, and I said, "yeah, so I met him." 5. I witnessed former Texas Gov. Ann Richards be rude to above mentioned former Miss America. 6. Alan Colmes has actually replied to one of my emails before, but I don't remember what it was. 7. I got an autograph from A-Rod before his first game in Arlington as a Texas Ranger, and now I despise A-Rod. 8. I have gone to the Rangers Home Opener 9 out of the last 10 years. I only missed the ye

Earlier today, I updated my status on Ping.fm so that I could actually frequently Twitter, change my Facebook status and all that stuff. My status was: Audra asks, "do you ever just need a break from reality?" Well, it ended up as a post here on my blog because I didn't know what I was doing, and I can't get the status thing to work correctly on the right. So, instead of deleting it off, I'll just edit this post and ask that question. (Let me just say, how all these sites and blogs and updates and all are linked together just blow my mind.) Wouldn't it be nice to sometimes just take a break from all your mess? And man, life can be messy. The problem is, whatever your mess may be, it'd be there when you got back from your break. Ok, that's all the profound thought that I have for today. My brain is fried.

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Dr. Camille Bishop and the book: We’re in This Boat Together Authentic (August 14, 2008) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: In her thirty-year teaching career, Dr. Camille Bishop’s love for students and her penchant for adventure have taken her to classrooms all over the world. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a degree in math, Dr. Bishop began her career in the trenches as a secondary mathematics instructor in

Last night was an adventure. I along with my parents had tickets to see Kenny Rogers with the Ft. Worth Symphony at Bass Hall. My parents had in their mind that they wanted to eat at Riscky's BBQ. The problem? They couldn't remember where the restaurant was. I was driving, and I don't particularly enjoy driving around downtown anywhere when there are tons of one way streets and stop lights. After a while, we were all hungry, and we all kind of just gave up. I found a parking lot, and we walked a couple of blocks up to a couple of restaurants. We knew they were steakhouses, but didn't really realize the one we chose was quite the kind of place that it was. Meaning, it was one of those places where the grilled chicken costs $20 and the sides are all ala carte at $8 each. It's not that I've never been to a place like that, but they just make me nervous. In the past, when I've been places like that, I've been on business trips and I always feel so terribly

I thought that maybe, just maybe my dad had taken my word on the fact that I was not going to Branson come July. I should have known better. I guess I stepped into the subject, but it was sort of like a land mine buried underneath something. I was riding around with my parents as they were looking for houses for sale (by the way, I saw them slowly drive by the townhouse across the street to get the phone number off the sign). We're hungry and Dad asks, "where can I get a steak sandwich?" I reply Braum's because it's the only place in our town, but then jokingly add "Steak & Shake." Evidently, he associates Steak & Shake with Springfield, MO. I guess we have stopped there twice. Once on the way to Branson , but the first time I stopped there was on the way to CHICAGO. Dumb me for not putting that together, but I promise you there are Steak & Shakes in other places in the US. I believe that we have eaten at one in Memphis before. So, here goe

A couple of days ago, I finished reading Savannah from Savannah by Denise Hildreth . This was one of my 49 cent purchases at Mardel's . Denise stopped by my little blog and commented back when I mentioned that I would be reading this book next. Denise wasn't sure she was happy that I found her book for such a bargain. If it makes her feel any better, I did just buy two more of her books at full price at Barnes & Noble with my gift card! In Savannah from Savannah , Savannah Phillips has just finished graduate school and is an aspiring writer hoping to become the next great American novelist. And she might have too, if she weren't convinced that her mother, "Vicki", rigged a writing contest that she entered. Trying to prove that she could make a career on her own, Savannah moves back home to the city her mother lives for, Savannah. Savannah secures herself a job with the local newspaper and sets out to become the city's next great human interest columnist,

Mom called me last night after church. We had just talked on the parking lot, so I wondered what was up. Her question: "How would you feel if we were your neighbors?" Brakes coming to a halt, record screeching, followed by crickets chirping. "My neighbors? Huh?" While Mom was at church, the preacher from the Baptist church they live behind/around the block from came over to talk to Dad. They have been trying to buy up all the land around my parents house and are evidently serious this time about wanting to buy their house. (The building committee didn't like the price before, but hey, the house is paid for. If you want it bad enough, you can pay for it.) Well, evidently the preacher is quite serious if he skipped out on his own mid-week service to come talk "we need your house because we want to build a bigger building." I'm not really sure why they need such a large building. They really should have built out on more land when they built their ugl

OK, well, I'm not speechless, but I don't have a lot to say today of any value. Wait, I'm not sure that anything that I've said recently was of value anyway. I can report that I tried rearranging my living room last night. I don't know what I'm going to do with it now though. It's not working as it is. I'd move it all back where it was, except for the fact that I really, really, don't want to unhook and move my computer again. One solution would be moving the chaise into the spare bedroom and buy a purple couch and chair (they would fit with the computer where it is now), however, my lucky lotto ticket hasn't landed on my desk today. No, I don't buy lotto tickets. I'm gifted one scratch off ticket per year for Christmas, and I never win anything. If I think of something more fascinating to share, I'll come back and revise my daily post, but I don't expect it for tonight.

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Dr. Matthew S. Stanford and the book: Grace for the Afflicted: A Clinical and Biblical Perspective on Mental Illness Paternoster (September 5, 2008) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Matthew S. Stanford is professor of psychology, neuroscience, and biomedical studies at Baylor University, where he also serves as the director of the Psychology Doctoral Program. He received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Baylor in 1992. After graduating from Baylor

I admit that I have not seen much of the inauguration coverage, but I have it on now as to not be totally clueless as to what went on today. The first question I have to make/question I have to ask is this: What was up with Aretha Franklin's hat? That was the biggest bow that I have ever seen affixed to someone's head. My next question, while I have the TV on watching the recap, is when did Katie Couric get that bad haircut? As I got ready for work this morning, I had Good Morning America/Early Show/Today Show on. I flipped through the three. Nothing was going on at this time, but full coverage was indeed under way. As the anchors on the various networks watched for the new first family to emerge from the Blair House, it was obvious that they didn't have much to say at that time. "Well, Harry, the environmental lobbyist are not happy this morning. Look how much exhaust is coming out of the presidential limo as it idles waiting for hours to drive the Obamas two blocks.&

Dr. Albert Mohler available for comment on today’s sex-saturated culture Just a few recent headlines: ·A 22-year old woman from California is auctioning off her virginity online. The latest reports are that bidding has reached $3.7 million. ·After receiving criticism for his choice of Saddleback pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inauguration ceremony itself, President-elect Obama announces the choice of Bishop Gene Robinson, the openly-homosexual Episcopal Bishop, to open the mass event at the Lincoln Memorial with prayer. ·The former head of an Ohio faith-based agency is accused of running a website where users are able to post reviews of prostitutes. ·Newsweek and other media outlets do follow-up stories on Ted Haggard’s scandal. ·The Vatican reports a decrease in homosexual behavior in Catholic seminaries. ·Recent studies reveal statistics on abstinence pledges and the latest figures on teen pregnancy rates around the country. Lifetime monogamy is passé. Pornograph

Navigating the rough waters of leadership transition George, Brad, Brianna, and Nate are connected by their jobs; the four of them make up the IT department at Handover Corporation. They also represent four distinct generations. They all have their own specialties, and when the day is done they go their separate ways—that is, until the company sends them on a white-water rafting trip to encourage team building. Surviving the rapids, they return to work to discover that their CEO is stepping down, sending the company into a tumultuous transition. They rely on the skills they just learned in order to survive and remain in the boat together. This scenario serves as the plot of a unique new book, We’re in This Boat Together: Leadership Succession Between the Generations, by Camille Bishop, Ph.D. A career educator with thirty years of international teaching experience, Dr. Bishop knows exactly why the average business book fails to resonate with readers. “So many business books are full of

At church this morning, as I rose from my seat at the end of class to head towards the auditorium, I came to the conclusion that my lower back hurt from moving furniture by myself. I kind of pulled something in my right hip and thigh, but I consider myself quite fortunate. Down the pew this morning, my brother, Brian, was in much worse shape. There was a little too much "Song Leader Says" going on this morning for his taste. Song leader says, "stand for this song." Song leader says, "you may sit down." Song leader says, "please stand for the song before the lesson, " followed by, "you may have a seat." The closest 85 year old woman who recently had a hip replacement had nothing on Brian's pain and speed. If Brian were computer literate and savvy, which I must add that he isn't, he really should have a blog of his own to tell his daily chronicles. So help me, sometimes he has more strange occurrences in his life than anyone I kno

For weeks I have had it in my mind that I wanted to rearrange all the furniture in my house. I've had excuses or other things to do the last few Saturdays, but I finally rearranged my bedroom today. I got productive and cleaned out a bag full of stuff to throw away from three dresser drawers as I took them out to move my dresser. I took the box springs and mattress off the bed to move the frame. I actually switched the walls that those two pieces of furniture were on. Got it all done myself until Dad came over to hang the huge palm tree picture I picked out for Christmas. He helped me moved the chest of drawers 18 inches from where I had moved it to where it needed to be. I plan on rearranging the living room tomorrow, but I'll probably move it right back where it is. I've arranged and rearranged my living room a number of times because I have a hard time putting my chaise somewhere else that I like. There's only so much arranging to be done with the entertainment cente

No, I'm not referring to an obscure cereal super hero. Today's blog entry would have been pretty boring today if author and friend Chris Plekenpol hadn't stopped by the office. I'll back the story up several months to reveal the nickname in the title - Chris had come down to our office and several of us were brainstorming about his ministry, future books, and possible website names, etc. We all agreed that no one would be able to remember how to spell his last name. Someone commented it may just have to be Chris P. Well, Chris served in the Army, and he was a Captain... I suggested that maybe Captain Chris P was not the best way to present him since that would sound like he belonged on a box of cereal. So, anyway, Chris came down from Dallas today to speak at a youth retreat at one of the local churches. He got down here early and was in the area with time to kill, so he came on into our offices and decided to hang out in my office for a while. Chris can make me laugh